High altitude travels can evoke serious problems which an untrained individual cannot always afford. At the same time, it is possible to prevent possible problems, if an individual is prepared to high altitude travels beforehand. In this respect, the following tips can be helpful in the preparation of high altitude travels.

1. First of all, it is important to examine the physical shape and the general state of physical health of an individual, who is going to take a high altitude travel. It is obvious that the high altitude travel is a serious challenge to the health of an individual. In fact, even well-trained professionals cannot always afford climbing and high altitude travel since the latter imply consistent changes of climatic and physical conditions in the course of the travel. In such a situation, a poor health is an unsurpassable obstacle to the high altitude travel, especially if an individual has problems with breathing, such as asthma, or cardio-vascular diseases which make such travels not just impossible but also extremely dangerous to human health because human body cannot afford the physical activities and the impact of environment if there are some serious health problems.

2. Secondly, it is important to inform other people about the high altitude travel an individual is going to undertake. Often inexperienced travelers ignore the importance of informing other people about their travel, but when they start climbing they can face serious problems which they cannot cope with independently. Therefore, they may need assistance from outside and, if they fail to inform anyone about their travel and if they do not main contacts with their partners or local services which ensure security of travelers, than they will not get any help in case of emergence, which may be crucial at the high altitude (Bellomio, 2009).

3. Furthermore, it is important to take simple precautions of basic hygiene. Basically, human body is immune to bacteria, which people normally encounter in their natural environment. In other words, they are protected from bacteria which they may encounter in their location, where they live. However, the high altitude travel will inevitable expose an individual to new bacteria he or she is not immune to and, therefore, the body cannot protect itself from the negative impact of these bacteria. Therefore, it is necessary to be aware of certain precautions, such as avoidance of eating unknown food or food that is found specifically at the high altitude and which an individual has never consumed before.

4. In addition, it is important to adjust to high altitude (Johnson, 2009). This means that an individual cannot just start travelling at the maximum height without any prior training. In fact, it is important to start training before the beginning of the travel. It is necessary to define what altitude an individual wants to achieve. The adjustment starts from gradual increase of the altitude level in order to make body accustomed to the specific environment of high altitude. If an individual is not accustomed to altitude at all, he or she will be unable to travel at the high altitude.

5. Taking into consideration the experience and physical shape of an individual, it is important to select properly the time when the travel starts. In this respect, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the effects of high altitude depends on multiple factors, including the distance to be covered, the difference in season, temperature, and even the time of the day of the arrival. The cold weather aggravates the high altitude effects. In such a way, an individual should plan the travel in such a way that it would be possible to avoid cold weather.

6. The physical training is crucial in the preparation to the high altitude travel. In this respect, specialists (Zubieta, 2009) recommend practicing sport and regular physical training which ensures the easier adaptation of an individual to the high altitude. At any rate, the physical training can facilitate the adaptation as well as the travel at large because the body grows accustomed to physical exercises which are crucial at the high altitude.

7. At the same time, the importance of physical health in the high altitude travel implies that an individual is healthy at the moment of the travel and has not suffered from some illnesses before the travel. In addition, it is necessary to avoid taking drugs before and during the travel because drugs may have dangerous side-effects which can be extremely dangerous at the high altitude. For instance, the use of tranquilizers is absolutely unacceptable because it distracts an individual’s attention and changes in reactions and behavior of an individual which may lead to negative outcomes, increasing the risk of injuries or even death of the individual.

8. Similarly, it is important to avoid using alcohol before and during the high altitude travel because alcohol has a negative impact on the body. To put it more precisely, it blinds oxygen and water and robs the body of these two important nutrients which are crucial and scarce at the high altitude. Consequently, if an individual uses alcohol he or she increases the physical exhaustion of his or her body and, therefore, increases the risk of health problems. In addition, alcohol influences the behavior of an individual, which can become unpredictable and uncertain that is very dangerous in the high altitude environment.

9. At the beginning of the high altitude travel it is necessary to let the body adjust to the new environment and it is important to avoid strenuous exercises which lead to the excessive exhaustion of the body and physical forces of an individual, while they are needed badly at the higher altitude. In such a way, strenuous exercises in the first day of the high altitude travel can ruin the entire plan of the travel and lead to its failure.

10. Finally, it is always necessary to have a good rest before the beginning of the high altitude travel and during the travel. Excessive training before the travel can undermine physical forces of an individual and make him or her unable to accomplish the travel. In this respect, it is important to remember about the development of a detailed plan of not only the high altitude travel, but also the training prior to the travel.

While fulfilling the plan, an individual can trace changes in his or her physical shape and if necessary stop training and refuse from the travel if his or her physical shape is insufficient to afford the travel.

Thus, it is important to follow the aforementioned tips to prepare to and to accomplish the high altitude travel successfully.